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| October 8, 2001 | Monday | Rajab 20, 1422 |
Response not encouraging
ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: The response of the foreign players to this November’s Pakistan Open has not been quite encouraging, an official of the squash federation told Dawn Sunday.
Sqd. Ldr Sajid Waheed, the secretary of the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) said that so far entries of 12 players had been received by them for the $80,000 Open to be held in Lahore.
The closing date for sending in entries for the Nov 9 to 16 tournament is Oct 9 and it will be only then that the PSF would have a clear picture, Sajid said.
“We are expecting between 30 to 35 top ranked players, and if they choose to stay away, it would be no point staging the tournament and we will have to postpone it.”
The Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the United States have severely hit sporting events in Pakistan with the New Zealand first cancelling a three-Test cricket tour followed by the Champions Trophy field hockey tournament being moved out of Lahore by FIH, the game’s governing body.
The SAF Games, another major event, also had to be rescheduled by the organisers for next year.
There are now strong indications that the Pakistan Open could also meet a similar fate with chances of a retaliation by the United States on Afghanistan that borders Pakistan, growing stronger.
The foreign players are reluctant to travel to Pakistan because of the uncertain situation in the region. “At the moment we are monitoring the situation and keeping the PSA (Professional Squash Association) informed,” Sajid said.
“We have received the entry of just one player who is among the top 10 while the others are lower ranked players.”
“The Pakistan Open is a Super Series event and we would rather not stage it if we do not get enough top players.”
Sajid added that while the PSA may ask them for rescheduling the event, the PSF also had the right to postpone the tournament on its own. “We would definitely want the Open to go ahead but if the players do not turn up we wouldn’t have much choice.”
Air Marshal Syed Qaiser Hussain, senior vice president of the PSF had said Thursday that if the PSA asked for putting back the tournament, they would have to comply.
Meanwhile Qaiser visited the training camp in Abbottabad which is part of the PSF’s Junior Development Programme.
The Air Marshal witnessed two training sessions of the 10 boys who are being trained by Rehmat Khan, a former coach of squash legend Jahangir Khan. The players are preparing for the 2002 Junior Championship to be held in Chennai (India).
Qaiser expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the players and was particularly impressed by their discipline.
He was also appreciative of the hard work Rehmat and the assistant coaches were putting in to train the boys.
According to Sajid, who was also present there, the boys in the camp were improving in all departments of the game and were highly motivated.
Out of the 10 players in training, four will be picked for the Chennai championship.
In another development, this month’s World Individual Championship in Melbourne has been cancelled after a major sponsor pulled out, it has been learnt.
There was to be no Pakistani representation in the championship after a mix up between the players and the PSF led to the entries not being sent.
The Pakistani squad however will be competing in the World Team Championship starting on Oct 21, also in Melbourne, and the WSF Challenger Open that precedes that.
The team comprising Mansoor Zaman, Shahid Zaman, Shamsul Islam and Ijaz Azmat will be leaving for Australia on Oct 12.
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